Bulleted, battered, and bruised

One interesting trend with my bullet journal was the result of a recent injury. I hyper-extended my ankle trail running a few days ago. I'm going to live, but I'm limping a lot and can't run more than a few steps. It looks kind of gross, but I've had worse.

The interesting thing is that because of the injury, I've used my journal less. Suddenly I can't put mileage in my running tracker, which has made me less likely to fill out other trackers and even do daily entries--especially on weekends. That's because running is one of the two things I always track on weekends (the other is guitar practice).

When a bruise messes with your bullet journal.

It's interesting that a seemingly unrelated issue (an injury) can affect my bullet journal. I caught up just fine on Monday (today) but I wonder what I could do to ensure I keep at it when issues like this come up. If you can't track one of your favorite things to track, how do you keep your interest piqued?

Maybe I should come up with something new to track (miles walked, I'm still walking with the dog, just not running, for better or worse). It's worth thinking about (and journaling about). There are really only two things I track every day--maybe I need to add more daily tasks to track.

Not Squilliam Fancyson

We're a week into February, which is my second month of bullet journaling. It didn't take much effort to migrate the few things I didn't do in January over to February, but that's mainly because I keep my journal very simple.

Squilliam journals beautifully.

I do feel the requisite level of guilt at not having done those things, but now I have the added pressure of their lingering existence to help motivate me (I guess).

As James Clear--and no doubt other experts on productivity, habits, and just plain getting stuff done--will tell you, a big part of the secret to sticking with a habit is to keep it simple, especially at first. With that in mind, my daily journal is usually five or six bullets long, and my monthly list isn't much longer than that, as a general rule. Clear would probably say to start with just one bullet a day (at the start), just to make sure you do it. I mean, one is too easy not to do, right?

Keeping entries easy means there's never any stress associated with updating the journal, which makes it much more likely I'll keep coming back updating it. I've got nothing against the folks out there with much more complex (and beautiful!) bullet journals, with intricate design, multi-page entries, and masterful artwork, but that's not for me. Certainly not now.

Lovely, but too much work to bother with.

The link above is a blog entry that laments how horribly complex bullet journals must be. Except they don't have to be, and mine isn't.

Later on I might get a bit more adventurous and ambitious, but like Clear and those other folks say, the first day, first week, first whatever, of any habit should remain simple. Get some quick wins, and you are more likely to keep it up over the long run. Or keep it simple forever if it works for you.

So far that's working with my bullet journal, which is certainly simple, with the exception of my monthly habit tracker. The tracker is still not what I want or need it to be.

The larger, horizontal graph I used for February doesn't leave me enough room to record all the data I want. Most trackers use dots for completing a task, but I really want to include more data, such as the distance I run or the amount of time I spend practicing guitar. I also feel like noting that those tiny run distances are full-on sprints with a two-year old husky, and not as sad as they seem. Really.

Much too cramped for data, and it's worse if I add interior lines.

I clearly haven't cracked the code on how to make a more complex tracker fit, short of using weekly trackers instead. I might try that in March. I'll keep experimenting, and will certainly entertain your suggestions.

I also should note that I'm using actual photos of my own journal. These are (clearly!) not fancy Pinterest journals. I think the uber-journals intimidate a lot of people who think a bullet journal must be a magnificent work of art. It doesn't. It just needs to work.

Tracking through hyperspace



Not a lot of frivolous weekend entries.

January has come and gone, and I still use my bullet journal every day. I look forward to it, but can't say anything in it is indispensable.

Most of my daily logs are short--four or five tasks--so it's never a chore. On weekends, it's even more sparse. The big stuff is already on the monthly log, and I don't use or need weekly logs.





I don't use the future log much, but it's good to have milestones listed, and I refer to it mostly for doctor and dentist appointments.

The one thing I changed was my daily tracker (see below). I switched from three teeny ones to one big one. Unfortunately, the new one doesn't allow any more space for each day's results. So when I'm writing down miles I ran or guitar time, it's still scrunched. I'd like to double the space, but the book's not big enough. Something to think about.


Old: Cool, but too small




New: Tracking more each month,but slots are the same size.

I didn't use the monthly log that much--I added a few milestones and recurring events, and those are helpful. I had to migrate several larger tasks that I put off, and it's good to see those, and to think about why I never completed them. 





Got some use out of the monthly log.

As Sheila E. sang, "Take me with you..."

One important thing about keeping a journal is consistency. If you don't fill it out often, its value diminishes rapidly. I fill it out at least a little bit every day.

That's easy at work, where I open the journal up more or less first-thing. I check off any tasks I completed the previous day, and move ("migrate" in Bullet Journal lingo) the ones I didn't to the next day, week, or whatever is appropriate.

It's crucial to keep the journal nearby and handy. I don't fill it out if I don't have it with me, or if it's buried somewhere I can't get to it easily.

I keep my journal in my work bag, a beat-up Kenneth Cole Reaction that I've had about eight years, and which looks awful. But it does what I need it to do, and it conforms to my body like a well-worn leather jacket. It just needs to be functional, not impressive.

I sit the bag by my desk at work, so I can grab stamps, the newspaper, or anything else I might need during the day. I do a lot of stuff electronically, but have an analog backup for my address book and some other items.




One very beat up, but serviceable, bag for a bullet journal.

So the bag sits there all day with the journal in it. Sometimes I leave the journal out on my desk if I think I might need it. I also usually mark a few things off right before I leave for the day. I rarely open the journal at home on weekdays, because I keep my bag in my car so I don't forget it.

On weekends, my bag sits in a cubby by the garage door with my kids' school backpacks. It's easy to get to, right by the home office, so I can fill it out in there if I need to do so.

I've been good about filling it out each day on weekends, rather than waiting for Monday. That makes it easier to remember all the tasks I completed. I log runs and guitar practices in my tracker on weekends, plus any other tasks.

I'm nearing the end of my first month of journaling. My first migration is coming up, and I'm sure there's a blog entry in there somewhere.

I will collect you, and capture you...

I added my first "collection" a few days ago, which is just a list of stuff you are thinking about and want to write down somewhere. Presumably doing so will help you remember it. I made a collection of books I'm planning to read or buy.

I don't know how much sense this makes as a collection, but that's the point of the first one--just to see what works. I added symbols for books I plan to read (box), books I've read (checked box), books I've ordered (O), books I've loaned to others (L) and books I want to buy at some point (W).



My first collection - books to read!

I read a lot (I am a writer and editor by trade) and I've always got a big stack of books I want to read. I also have much bigger lists on Amazon and Goodreads. There's a lot of cross-over on those lists, and I'm not sure what I'll do about that.

So far, it's helpful to know which of the books I ordered have arrived, though I didn't write down the date they got here. Oh well.

I always have to explain to folks who loan me a book that it might be months or years before I get to it--my lists are that long. I don't really need the bullet journal to remind me to read more, I do that without prompting. The collection just helps me remember what books I've been thinking about. I think about books a lot.

Just got this, so it isn't on the list. D'oh!

I tend to alternate literature with something silly, like 1980s fantasy or post-apocalypse sci-fi. Then I'll stick in something like "Hood Struggle," a book my wife bought from the author in New Orleans. Books are always jumping ahead in line for various reasons. I'll see what effect, if any, a bullet journal has on that habit.

I haven't really thought of any other collections yet, but I have some hobbies, and work-related projects and articles that might work. I'll see how this first collection goes, then move on to something more ambitious.

Habit tracking habits?

It's day 12 of bullet journaling, and I've figured out that as nifty as my tiny little monthly tracker blocks are, they are too small. If I used them to track several additional things I should probably track, they'd take up several pages a month.

Sorry to repeat already, but these nifty boxes are too small!

Right now, I'm using these one-box-per-day calendars to track runs, guitar practice, and gym workouts. I do my runs and guitar practice pretty regularly, so I need more space for them. I also want to track recurring things I am adding to every daily log, such as things I do every day at work.

I like this idea, from Cerries Mooney, who has a nifty habit tracker that lets her keep up with 11 or more things. She does it sideways in the notebook so it will fit (I rotated it 90 degrees so you can read it). This is a nice format. You can change what you track if something doesn't need to be tracked, or if you want to add something new that you might do more consistently if you tracked it.


Nifty monthly habit tracker from Cerries Mooney.

I started adding my blood pressure numbers to daily logs. That has helped me check my pressure more often, but daily logs don't seem like the most efficient place for something you should do every day.

I think most people will do something more often if they track it. I know I start feeling guilty when a long row of unchecked boxes stares back at me. I run almost every day with a fast dog and get lots of other activity in, so that's not a bothersome void to me. Well, OK, it's a little bothersome.

I admit I look forward to filling out my bullet journal every morning. We'll see if I start slacking on the weekend.

Bullet Journal, Day #11 (which is post #1)

I'm a pretty organized person, or at least I like to think so. To test this theory, and to make sure I exercise more and do other things more consistently, I started a bullet journal.

There's no reason it had to be a bullet journal, I just needed something. I'm a book person, so analog sounded good, plus I like the feel of a sharp pencil on good paper. I mainly wanted to track how often I run, go to the gym, practice guitar, and do other important stuff.


The goal? Track exercise and guitar practice.

I didn't just jump right in like some folks, though. I spent a month or so looking at blogs and websites about bullet journals and other tracking systems (not every second, but when I had time). I had a decent idea what I wanted when I started, though I knew it would probably evolve.

A lot of the blogs about bullet journals seem to be written in the same style, in the same order, with the same content. One might suspect the bullet journal folks send out how-to guides to bloggers, maybe with a few free bullet journals thrown in. I don't know.

You'll also notice (maybe) that I don't use the trendy abbreviation "bujo." You can if you want.

I should disclose that I'm no millennial "lifestyle blogger" like most of the people out there blogging about bullet journals. I'm happy and proud to be a forty-something dad and husband and all-around regular guy. Like most parents, I have a lot to keep track of, hence the bullet journal.

I bought one of the actual bullet journals, because $20 is do-able, and if you are going to do something, you might as well do it right. I can use cheaper books later if I have the system down well enough. The bullet journal works OK, as near as I can tell after 11 days, that is.

I'm also not going to explain to you what a bullet journal is and how you keep one. I have lots of stuff to track, and stuff I need to get done, and having it in one place (not on 17 apps) helps. I do use Evernote, Trello, and other apps for work, but I'm not tying those in right now. I also have a paper calendar at work, plus an electronic one in Outlook and one on my iPhone. (See, it's a lot to keep up with.)

Checking off things I did. Simple.

I keep my daily logs simple. The most bullets I've had on any one day was 10, and several of those were notes to add specific collections later. Most of my entries are about four bullets, with things like "doctor's appt at 10" or "news clips," which is the first thing I do at work. It's easy to check off stuff like that.

I don't use most of the different bullet marks (for appointments, ideas, etc.) I just use a dot, and make it an X when it's done. I haven't finished a month, so I haven't had to migrate anything yet.

Anyway, if you have any tips or tricks, let me know, but keep in mind I'm into simplicity and minimalism (or so I dream, life is more complicated).

I don't go in for all the flowery drawing and calligraphy, colorful tape, stickers, and all that jazz. Just a few short bullets a day, the monthly log, future log, the index. All the frilly, pretty bullet journal  photos can intimidate new users. Maybe my boring, easy example will help. Right now it takes me maybe a couple of minutes a day to do an entry. Easy.